Chapter 4 - THE HIDDEN RECORD
Arthur moved Emily and Lily into a secure estate outside the city.
Emily hated every second of it.
She hated the guards.
She hated the cameras.
She hated the locked gates.
Most of all, she hated knowing that her daughter was being hunted because of a secret she had never even known existed.
Lily sat beside Arthur in the library.
“You're not homeless.”
Arthur smiled.
“No.”
“Were you pretending?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Arthur looked toward the window.
“Because I needed to know who would help me when they thought I had nothing.”
Lily frowned.
“That's sad.”
Arthur laughed softly.
“It is.”
She looked at him.
“Did you find out?”
Arthur nodded.
“I found one person.”
Lily smiled.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Across the room, Emily watched them.
She still didn't trust Arthur.
But she could see something genuine in his eyes.
Later that night, Arthur showed Emily a hidden archive.
The room was behind a bookshelf.
Inside were boxes of documents.
He opened one.
Sarah's handwriting covered the pages.
Emily read the first sentence.
“If anything happens to me, Victor Hale is responsible.”
Emily's breath stopped.
There were bank transfers.
Shell companies.
Forged signatures.
Payments to politicians.
Payments to police officers.
And one final document.
A birth certificate.
Emily stared at it.
The mother's name was Sarah Carter.
The child's name was Ethan Carter.
Emily looked at Arthur.
“Sarah had a son?”
Arthur nodded.
“We believed he died.”
Emily's hands trembled.
“Where is he?”
Arthur hesitated.
“We don't know.”
Then the lights went out.
Every security alarm in the estate activated simultaneously.
Guards shouted outside.
Arthur grabbed a flashlight.
Emily held Lily.
Someone had breached the property.
Daniel rushed into the room.
“Sir, the east gate is down.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“How many?”
“We don't know.”
A gunshot echoed.
Lily screamed.
Arthur immediately shielded her.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Arthur!”
Arthur froze.
The voice sounded familiar.
A man's voice.
Old.
Calm.
Confident.
Victor Hale.
“Give me the girl.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
Arthur tightened his grip.
“Understand what?”
Victor answered.
“The girl isn't the reason I came.”
May you like
He paused.
“She is the proof.”
